One of the things I know from “personal experience” is that the more smart foods you include in your food plan over the course of time…the smarter you become and the more improvement you find in your cognitive skills! It just comes with the territory.

Consider the Yahoo! Blog entry featured today about the ‘facts’ and the ‘truth’ about local foods or organic foods. As I read through the Blog, I am surprised to find that the first item that deserves clarification is the definition of what constitutes ‘local’ food. Is it 100 miles or 250 miles? Come on now, people, think it through! It is going to vary according to the micro-climate and ecosystem of the surrounding area. You CANNOT relegate it to an arbitrary number of miles.

Long ago, the “thinking people” among us began the process of identifying ‘bio-regions’ where different foodstuffs or crops grow in harmony with the climate, the water sources or lack thereof, the seasonal nuances, the geography, the natural pollinators, the soil, and all the other subtle aspects of a healthy sustainable and productive agricultural area. Our local ‘bio-region’ is known as the Cascadia here in this part of the Pacific Northwest.

These ‘bio-regions’ will naturally determine what defines your ‘local’ food sources. Small farms, cooperatives, dairies, ranches, individual gardeners, greenhouses, specialty growers, school gardens, and community gardens may all contribute to the variety of local foods available to you, including the wild-crafted herbs, greens, nuts, fruits, berries, and edible flowers you will find in Nature along roadsides and across the natural landscape. Look…and ye shall find!

If you will take the time to talk with these people, you can discover if they are certified organic…or if they practice various types of growing methods that meet your personal standards. The smartest approach is to primarily buy from local growers who have taken the necessary steps to be ‘certified organic’. Buy food at its ideal time of ripeness, maturity, and that particular food’s perfect harvest time which can vary each year. Many producers are now delivering weekly or on their growing schedule…like CSA shares and local food businesses. Explore your local area and find the best suppliers for you…then support them as often as possible instead of going to the traditional big box grocery stores.

The second topic that deserves clarification is that ‘organic’ , free-range, and toxin-free is always important. Your health and total Wellness depends upon it! Do NOT compromise! If in doubt, don’t consume it at all. Go organic and stay organic…using the original definition that all of us ‘old-timers’ worked so diligently to bring to people’s attention for all these decades. Do NOT rely on the USDA definitions or permitted deviations for safety and purity. Trust the knowledge and the wisdom of those who have their hands in the good earth and healthy soil!

Lastly…eat at your local restaurants and eateries who care enough to provide organic and healthy food in season. Talk to the owners and the chefs…tell them how important this is for you. It makes a huge difference! Remember…you can combine the best of all worlds for the best end result. In fact and in truth…your health depends upon it!

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 30th, 2007 at 5:13 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.